Pay Day

Thursdays were paydays for my dad at Sharon Steel. We shopped on those evenings. Most of the time it was the Sharon Store. Dad, either cashed his check there or most likely paid off a credit card.
Yesterday, I was telling a new patient that I was a "border girl" living on the state line. She remarked, "One foot in PA and the other in Ohio."
"Yes," I replied, "Did you ever go to the Penn-Ohio Drug? It had a red line through the store. As a kid, I did that, put one foot in Ohio and the other in Pennsylvania. Now, you can buy both states lottery tickets there. They gave up the drug store."
She thought that was a great thing. Then she mentioned Valley View.
What a great store that was to go to on pay day. As a kid, I loved  hanging in the toy department. The store was huge, the toy department also very large, a kid's dream. I wandered over the isles and isles of toys, admiring them all. At Christmas time, I gazed at the rows and rows of decorations. Valley View had it all, a magical store, at least to a child.
Then in sixth grade, I loved the record department. I scrutinized the 45's, as I was only allowed one per visit. I had a collection of the greatest hits of 1973. Little Willy, Daniel, Good-bye Yellow Brick Road, Go All the Way, I remember vividly because the jacket had a contest to win a VW, with a trumped up front like a Rolls Royce. Oh, if I could only win that car. I got my first album there as well, John Denver's Rocky Mountain High. Yeah, my musical tastes are still all over the place.
In the middle of the winter season, one evening we went to the Sharon Store. We shopped all over the store, although we never bought anything not from the bargain basement. This night we were about to give up, but they had added a section that was "Mod."  Mom suggested we look in there, which we did. This white long coat- Maxi was an excellent sale price, the best we had seen that evening.
I loved this coat. I felt romantic in it. It was a Dr. Zhivago coat. I can't remember where the blue suede boats were obtained, I think Penney's. I notice in the picture I have different color gloves. I was a real woman before my oldest daughter and her friends made that declaration-"Real women don't have to match their socks." and I may add gloves.
Pay day was fun, an adventure. We usually ate out, too, on these days. Even when money was tight after Dad's accident, he treated us. It may not have been as often, but I believe he budgeted his money for evenings when his little girl growing into a young lady needed a coat.